Marchogion

Purchased from the Guineas Breeze Up - The sale that produced THE PLATINUM QUEEN and CRYPTOFORCE

This colt was a standout in the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up. Not only was his breeze exceptional, clocking rapid times in all three sections to take 15th place overall, but his classy physical put him at the very top of our shortlist. He looks just the stallion prospect we are searching for and it was for that reason we went to 160,000 guineas for him, paying the second highest figure of the sale to secure him. 

He has the same strong, imposing physique as his record breaking Group 1 sire, MEHMAS, who has been an indomitable force as a stallion with only four crops. Boasting a remarkable four Group 1 winners, 15 Group winners and 49 Black-type horses in such a short period of time, MEHMAS has quickly risen in the ranks as one of the most popular stallions of the moment, and he certainly looks to be a worthy successor to his own extraordinary sire, ACCLAMATION.  

He is the perfect sprinting type to go to war with this season, and he has the very best chance of reaching the top with multiple Classic-winning trainer Andrew Balding. Earning more than £17 million in prize money over the past five seasons has landed Andrew in the top ranks of the flat Trainers’ Championships year on year, and last season saw him add yet another stallion to his roster with CHALDEAN retiring to stud following his thrilling 2000 guineas victory. Our colt has every chance in the expert hands of the team at Kingsclere, and will be one to get going with early on this summer for our owners!

Bloodstock Agent Billy Jackson-Stopps was equally impressed with him as we were, saying: 

“He’s by the right sire, obviously, and out of a mare by the right broodmare sire. He did a lovely breeze and is a really lovely type. I wanted to buy something that was going to be pretty active this year, so on that front he was everything we wanted. I loved his breeze, loved his attitude and I know the consignor well and he always does a good job.”

Not only does this colt look the part, but he was thought very highly of by his consignors, who ranked him in the top three of their breezers this year. 

“We gave a good throw for him in Book 2 but we targeted this sale specifically in the hope that he might stand out a bit. He’s a very nice horse, looked the part and vetted well. The good ones are always easy to sell. He stood out all along for us and the day we bought him we thought we'd got a bit of value.” - Eddie Linehan, Consignor at Lackendarra Stables

Pedigree

His dam is a twice winning mare who placed a further three times out of her eight runs. She is out of the very classy Australian mare LONE ROCK, a multiple Group winner whose top victory was the Group 1 Distinctive Homes Goodwood, and who earned over AUS$600,000 in prize money during her career. To illustrate her ability, she finished just over four lengths behind the exceptional World Champion Sprinter BLACK CAVIAR, who won every single one of her 25 races and remains Australia’s prized mare. 

As noted previously, MEHMAS has been enjoying a rapid rise in the ranks as a leading stallion, and already this year is the top sire based on prize money won by his two-year-olds in the UK and Ireland. MEHMAS himself was high-class at two, winning the Group 2 July Stakes and later the Group 2 Richmond Stakes, where he beat the infamous BLUE POINT by a neck. He took third place in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and never landed out of the first two in all of his eight runs bar that start. By the extraordinary sire of sires ACCLAMATION, it looks only a matter of time before MEHMAS overtakes DARK ANGEL for the leading son of of that stallion line, having last season beat the older stallion on ratio of winners to runners despite having just over half of the numbers to go to war with. And finally, it should be noted that the MEHMAS - PIVOTAL cross has so far been successful, with a 67% winner to runner rate including 109 rated Listed winner LINE OF DEPARTURE.